The French soprano is the latest to contribute to our informal questionnaire series. Piau's new Handel album Between Heaven and Earth was released Sept. 29, and she makes her New York recital debut on Oct. 9 at Carnegie Hall.

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Sandrine Piau is one of the bright lights of the Baroque music scene, though she can be heard singing such lyric roles as Pamina (Mozart's Die Zauberflöte), Titania (Britten's A Midsummer Night’s Dream) and Servilia (Gluck's La Clemenza di Tito) to equal acclaim. Her many and diverse recordings for the Paris-based naïve label – with whom she records exclusively – include a new all-Handel recording, Between Heaven and Earth, featuring her personal selection of arias from Handel’s oratorios. Her previous Handel recording, a duets album with Italian contralto Sara Mingardo, was CD of the Month in the July 2009 issue of Gramophone.

This past summer, Piau appeared at the Salzburg Festival. Highlights of her 2009-2010 season include her New York recital debut (Carnegie’s Weill Hall on October 9) and performances at recital and concert venues across Europe including the Theater des Champs Elysées in Paris and Berlin’s famed Philharmonie. She recently won the Victoire de la musique, a major French music award, and last year was awarded the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture.

Le Testament amoureux by Rezvani. I read this book when I was 20 years old and I keep it on my table for years; the first time I had the feeling that somebody else could find the words to explain my own feeling.

11. Thing(s) about yourself that you’re most proud of:

My fight to preserve family and friendship in this nomad life

12. Thing(s) about yourself that you’re embarrassed by:

My impatience (but life is so short!)

13. Three things you can’t live without:

Friends, love and light

14. “When I want to get away from it all I…”

I go on the beach and look at the sun setting on the sea

15. “People are surprised to find out that I…”

I eat so much…

16. “My favorite cities are…”

Lisbonne, New York, Sydney, Paris and Marseille, of course

17. “I have a secret crush on…”

That’s a secret!

18. “My most obvious guilty pleasure is…”

Lots of bread with a lot of butter on it!!!

19. “I’d really love to meet – or to have met…”

I met Felicity Lott. She’s a wonderful person and singer – a real lesson in life.

20. “I never understood why…”

I never understood why people are talking on their mobile phone when they are dining with friends!

BONUS QUESTION:

21. Question you wish someone would ask you (and the answer to that question):

Q: What motivates you to sing – the beauty of the music?

A: I sing not just for the beauty of the music, but more to escape from our terrestrial every day existence. For it’s like another world: the body stays fixed to the ground, but the voice and my spirit are elsewhere, floating through the air. Another motivation to sing is a fascination with the possibility to communicate emotions. How can one take ones emotions that only oneself are feeling and transfer them so that others can share in them? Here there is no clear answer, no recipe.